Meat cutting machines



June 2, 1970 P. DUCOURNEAU 3,515,192

MEAT CUTTING MACHINES Filed April 18, 1968 Q 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Ava-Mine. 1 /5665 1900 owe/Ve a mm W June 2, 1970 P. DUCOURNEAU 3,515,192

MEAT CUTTING MACHINES Filed April 18, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 3,515,192 Patented June 2, 1970 3,515,192 MEAT CUTTING MACHINES Pierre Ducourneau, 14 Rue Albert Mallet, Paris 12", France Filed Apr. 18, 1968, Ser. No. 722,350 Int. Cl. A22c 17/00 US. Cl. 146--102 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A meat cutting machine of the type comprising a circular rotary cutter, a fixed plate parallel to the plane containing said cutter and of which the level can be adjusted in relation thereto, and a carriage movable in a plane parallel to a horizontal line of the plane containing said fixed plate, the carriage of this meat cutting machine comprising a platform movable at right angles to its fixed plate, has a pair of relatively small transverse partitions adjustably mounted and extending at right angles to its movable platform and just above said fixed plate, the relative positions of said small transverse partitions being adjustable in order to hold between them and at right angles to said fixed plate a sausage, a Bologna sausage, a salami or any other piece of meat or pig-meat which can thus be cut into slices without having to remove the main piece of meat from the machine.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Meat cutting machines of conventional type comprise as a rule a fixed inclined plate, generally a glass plate, provided at its left-hand end with a circular notch in which the cutter or rotary cutting knife is mounted, this cutter or knife being also circular, concentric to said notch and parallel to said plate, the relative level of said cutter or cutting knife and of the upper face of said fixed plate being adjustable to permit the cutting of meat slices having the desired thickness, an electric motor rotatably driving said circular cutter or knife, and a movable platform disposed at right angles to said fixed plate and mounted on a carriage adapted to travel horizontally in a plane parallel to the lower edge of said fixed plate, the lower edge of said platform being horizontal and at a level slightly higher than that of said fixed plate in order to preclude any interference between said platform and the rotary cutter under any circumstances, the lateral edge of said platform, on the outer side (ie the righthand side) being raised at right angles to constitute a bearing plate perpendicular to said fixed plate; the piece of meat to be sliced is thus firmly held in the dihedron formed by said movable platform and said bearing plate (consisting of said raised right-hand side of the platform), and the end of the piece of meat which is to be cut is adapted to bear and slide on the fixed plate against which it is constantly urged, for example by a weight.

Each time the carriage is moved towards the cutter, i.e. from right to left, under manual control, a slice of meat is cut by the circular rotary knife; this slice falls under the knife and is collected in any suitable manner, generally on a piece of paper held by the left hand of the operator having caused or controlled the movement of translation of the carriage with his right hand.

In a prior French Pat. No. 1,259,522, the applicant provided this machine with a tray for receiving or collecting the slices thus cut by the machine, this tray being rigid with the carriage and disposed transversely, that is, parallel to the fixed plate under which it travels during the movements of translation of the movable platform; this slice collecting tray is carried by a variable-inclination arm whereby its position can be adjusted to cause the slices to fall thereupon at the end of the carriages stroke, irrespective of the dimensions and shape of the piece of meat to be cut; its upper portion is substantially semi-cylindrical and has a downward extension in the form of two lateral, substantially parallel and vertical, side faces, so that when pivoted it can cause the slices superposed thereon to drop during the preparation of the quantity of slices ordered for example by a customer.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The meat cutting machine of the type set forth hereinabove but improved according to the teachings of the present invention is characterized in that the slice collecting member is not pivotally mounted as in hitherto known machines of this type, and that this slice collecting member is completed at the front by a small horizontal tray intended more particularly for collecting on a sheet of paper previously deposited thereon the slices of sausage, Bologna sausage, salami or other meat or pig-meat which the cutting machine is adapted to slice, in addition to the main piece of meat, usually ham, and without having to remove the latter.

To this end, another feature characterizing the meat cutting machine of this invention lies in the fact that said carriage has mounted thereon a pair of small transverse partitions extending at right angles to said movable platform, just above the latter, the relative positions of these small transverse partitions being adjustable so as to permit the clamping therebetween, perpendicularly to said fixed plate, of a sausage, a Bologna sausage, a salami, or any other piece of meat or pig-meat which can thus be cut into slices without having to remove the main piece of meat, usually ham, which can be left in position without any interference and also without any risk of unduly and simultaneously cutting slices therein.

According to another feature characterizing this invention, the slice collecting member has its upper cylindrical face provided with small points or studs, such points or studs being also provided, if desired, on its lateral face on the right-hand side; besides, this right-hand side is formed with a downward extension in the form of a raised edge forming a kind of channel facilitating the picking up of the sheet of paper previously deposited on said collecting member, together with the slices of meat accumulated thereon during the preparation of the customers order.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The attached drawing illustrates by way of example a typical form of embodiment of the machine according to the invention.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the machine;

FIG. 2 is an end view thereof with parts broken away.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The machine illustrated in these figures comprises essentially a frame 1 having mounted thereon an electric motor 2 adapted rotatably to drive the circular rotary cutter or knife 3 provided at its upper portion with a protection case 4 secured by a nut 5; a bracket 6 rigid with the frame has secured thereto the fixed plate 7 consisting preferably of transparent glass, formed with a curved notch 8, in its left-hand edge, which is concentric to said rotary cutter 3; means (not shown) are provided for adjusting the level of the circular cutter 3 in relation to that of said fixed plate 7 in order to increase or reduce at will the thickness of the slices of meat to be cut.

The movable platform 9, preferably of suitable metal or alloy, extends at right angles to the fixed plate 7 and cutter 3, and can slide horizontally parallel to these members, its right-hand lateral edge is bent upwards at right angles to constitute a bearing face also perpendicular to the fixed plate 7.

The horizontal sliding movement of the movable plate is permitted by the fact that it is carried by a strap-shaped frame 11 (see FIG. 2) of which one arm has its end formed with a bore .12 adapted to slide along a horizontal rod 13 carried by the frame 1 of the machine, the opposite arm of said strap-shaped frame 11 carrying rollers 14 adapted to roll on the upper face of a guide rail 15; with this arrangement, the assembly comprising the movable platform 9 and all the elements rigid therewith can pivot about the horizontal rod 13, thus facilitating the removal of the fixed plate 7 and circular rotary cutter 3 for cleaning or replacement purposes.

The meat collector 16 parallel to the fixed plate 7 is secured to the end of an arm 17 adapted to be set in the proper angular position by pivoting about a shaft 18; it is therefore rigid with the movable platform 9; its upper face is substantially semi-cylindrical and comprises lower extensions in the form of substantially parallel and vertical lateral faces 19 and 20; a row of small points or studs 21 are carried by its uppermost generatrix; this meat collector is also provided with one or more small points or studs 22 on its lateral outer face 20.

The piece of meat to be cut is firmly held in the bottom of the dihedron consisting of the movable platform 9 and its raised edge 10, the meat end to be cut bearing and sliding on the rear face of the fixed plate 7, and being constantly urged thereagainst by a member 23 sliding freely along a guide rod 24 extending at right angles to the fixed plate 7 and of a weight sufficient to exert an adequate pressure against the piece of meat engaging said fixed plate 7; the piece of meat may be held in position by a transverse partition 25 disposed at right angles to the fixed plate 7 and movable platform 9; and adapted to slide in a direction parallel to these members 7 and 9 on another guide rod 26, a nut 27 being provided for locking this partition 25 in the selected position; another transverse partition 28 similar to partition 25 and adjustable in the same manner may be provided for clamping between these two partitions a sausage, a Bologna sausage (mortadella), a salami, or any other piece of meat or pig-meat which can thus be easily cut by the machine.

The meat or slice collector 16 has a front extension in the form of a small horizontal tray 29 which may be used notably for receiving the cut slices of sausage or the like; moreover, it comprises a rear raised edge extension 30 forming a kind of trough to facilitate the gripping of the sheet of paper and the slices of ham or other meat cut by the machine which are superposed on the meat collector 16 for example during the preparation of a customers order.

To use this machine, the operator firstly places a stack of relatively thin paper sheets on the collector 16, the slices of meat included in a customers order superposing themselves on the uppermost sheet of the stack, and it is then only necessary to remove this sheet from the stack for serving the customer; this operation is facilitated by the presence of the upstanding or raised edge 30; the points or studs 21, without piercing the sheets of paper, prevent these sheets from slipping unexpectedly; the same applies to the lateral point or stud 22.

It will be readily understood by anybody conversant with the art that the specific form of embodiment illustrated and described herein should not be construed as limiting the present invention since many modifications and variations may be brought thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A meat cutting machine of the type comprising a circular rotary cutter, a fixed plate parallel to the plane containing said cutter and of which the level can be adjusted in relation thereto, and a carriage movable in a plane parallel to a horizontal line of the plane containing said fixed plate, said carriage comprising a platform movable at right angles to said plate, wherein a pair of relatively small transverse partitions are adjustably mounted at right angles to said movable platform and just above said fixed plate, the relative positions of said small transverse partitions being adjustable in order to hold between them and at right angles to said fixed plate, a sausage, a Bologna sausage, a salami or any other piece of meat or pig-meat which can thus be cut into slices without having to remove the main piece of meat from the machine, said main piece of meat being thus adapted to remain on the machine without any risk of being cut simultaneously.

2. A meat cutting machine as set forth in claim 1, which comprises a slice collector in which a horizontal tray, intended more particularly for collecting the slices of sausage, Bologna sausage, salami and the like, or any other substantially cylindrical meat or pig-meat likely to be cut by the machine, in addition to the main piece of meat, as a rule ham, and without removing said main piece of meat, constitutes a forward extension of said slice collector.

3. A meat cutting machine as set forth in claim 2 wherein the upper cylindrical face of said slice collector is provided with points.

4. A meat cutting machine as set forth in claim 3, wherein said slice collector further comprises at least one additional point on its rear lateral face.

5. A meat cutting machine as set forth in claim 3, wherein said rear lateral face of said slice collector has a downward extension in the form of a channel-shaped raised edge facilitating the picking up of the sheet of paper previously laid upon said collector, together with the slices of meat accumulated thereon during the operation of the machine.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,556,667 6/ 1951 Van Berke].

FOREIGN PATENTS 1,259,522 3/1961 France.

1,448,276 6/ 1966 France.

W. GRAYDON ABERCROMBIE, Primary Examiner 

